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The title of this post refers of course to the wonderful book A Room with a View by E.M.Forster. As for Baedeker, this was the first publishing house for travel guides. The founder, Karl Baedeker, worked in Leipzig. So, I guess, pun intended.
I used to be crazy about exploring a city with a guide in my hands, but nowadays I prefer to be more relaxed and discover things on my own. Leipzig still holds a lot of secrets for me and I'm looking forward to immerse myself in these secrets.

The first time I went to the Musikalische Komödie in Leipzig I was impressed. What I had learned to call an operetta, a light musical piece with theatrical dialogues in between, has here ist own house, a very beautiful and unpretentious building where a restaurant is also to be found. (I didn't particularly like the food but the atmosphere was very cozy.)
The play I saw was Ralph Benatzky's Im weißen Rößl, a pleasant spectacle with good performers and the Austrian Emperor himself appearing on stage.
If you would like to learn more about all this, please go here:

The term Ostalgie in German means nostalgia for the German Democratic Republic’s times. It was coined when films like Goodbye Lenin started to appear. Such films or books, like Sonnenallee try to convey to younger viewers or readers who have no direct experience, an idealized “cult” and light image of the DDR. The gray, oppressive, totalitarian state seen in the film, The lives of the others, was the bitter reality for most of the inhabitants of East Germany. Recently I read a book written by a British woman, Jacinta Nandi and a German man, Jakob Hein.

Leipzig is historically connected to books through its publishing houses.

The most important cultural and commercial event for the city is the annual book fair which is really interesting. I visited the Leipzig Buchmesse today and as a person whose whole life has to do with reading and writing, I found myself in heaven!

Some days ago, I had the chance to meet the local community of BookCrossers, and it was another happy occasion.

I have been writing Diary of an Optimism for a long time. Now I have moved to Leipzig and decided to give my diary another title. At the same time, I’m discovering the city, seeing everything with the eyes of a tourist.

Please follow my journey through the streets of Leipzig. I’m carrying a luggage full of enthusiasm and optimism!